14 DAY TRIAL // If a new report is anything to go by, Apple is getting ready to abandon a series of older iPhones with the release of iOS 13 the next September.
Apple leaving behind older iPhone models with new iOS updates is something the company does occasionally, albeit this didn’t happen last year when the Cupertino-based tech giant rolled out iOS 12.
The latest version of iOS supports the same iPhone models as iOS 11, so bigger changes appear to be planned for the September update.
French website iPhoneSoft claims the models being targeted by Apple’s change of mind are iPhone 5s, iPhone SE, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.
iPhone SE still up for grabs
While at some level this makes sense, you should still take this report with a healthy dose of skepticism because of a series of details.
For example, Apple giving up on the iPhone SE this year doesn’t make much sense, as the company has restarted sales of this 4-inch iPhone several times throughout 2019, most likely to clear out inventory. So leaving new customers without software support after only a few months since they purchased their devices could lead to more frustration among buyers.
On the other hand, Apple might indeed be planning to ditch 4-inch iPhones and focus on larger models, albeit this means the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus should continue to be supported.
When it comes to the iPad, the cited source claims Apple wants to discontinue the iPad mini 2 and the iPad Air.
Without a doubt, Apple will give up on older iPhones at some point in the future, but I’m not sure doing it for so many models this year is the right way to go, especially the iPhone SE for the reason I detailed above. It remains to be seen if this is accurate, but further info could land next month at the WWDC conference.